


The Smiling Face of Sacrifice

by BaristaKitty



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Other, Pre-V3, Pre-canon exploration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-22 23:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12492888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaristaKitty/pseuds/BaristaKitty
Summary: !!!HEAVY SPOILERS FOR V3's ENDING!!!The odds of a video audition winning over the selective staff of Danganronpa had to be less than one in a million.There wasn’t even any sort of guarantee that every single audition was watched.And so, when the boy that would become Saihara Shuichi uploaded his own to the official website, he didn’t think anything of the confirmation email and digital consent form he had to fill out immediately afterwards.He wrote down the auto-generated confirmation code, picked up his phone, went to his email, checked the box that he understood the terms and conditions, and signed the consent form with his finger.And just like that, Saihara had sealed his fate.





	The Smiling Face of Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> It's almost 5AM and I was randomly inspired to write this after replaying V3's prologue, so forgive any typos or editing errors!
> 
> I'd appreciate any feedback as this is my first fic for V3!

The odds of a video audition winning over the selective staff of Danganronpa had to be less than one in a million. 

There wasn’t even any sort of guarantee that every single audition was watched.

And so, when the boy that would become Saihara Shuichi uploaded his own to the official website, he didn’t think anything of the confirmation email and digital consent form he had to fill out immediately afterwards. 

He wrote down the auto-generated confirmation code, picked up his phone, went to his email, checked the box that he understood the terms and conditions, and signed the consent form with his finger. 

And just like that, Saihara had sealed his fate.

_ I’d be the best SHSL Detective!  _

He sat back on his bed, outstretching his arms in either direction. 

He grinned to himself, to the life size image of Kyouko Kirigiri staring with her trademark solemn expression on his wall. 

It was a shame that he couldn’t squeeze in all of his execution ideas for himself in his audition, but they were limited to only thirty seconds. 

Maybe they’d email him back and ask for details.

He’d already written them out, and needed only to copy and paste the text.

_ Maybe… _

He rolled over to his side, rested his head on his pillow, and pulled his hat off to set it on his nightstand. 

Saihara’s room was full of Danganronpa, particularly of Kirigiri figures and plushies and of course the standard few pieces of Hinata merch that almost everyone had. 

Hinata was the easiest for any fan to relate to

In a way, every fan was a Hinata. 

And so, like everyone, Saihara couldn’t help but love him for it--but never as much as he’d admired Kirigiri. 

Of all the Detective characters Danganronpa had created, Kirigiri always stood out as the first and best to him. For the past four seasons, there hadn’t been a SHSL Detective at all, so Saihara wondered if maybe they’d been considered too overpowered.    
That was the common speculation, anyway, although that seemed terribly unfair.    
At least nerf them, instead. 

Of all the survivors, Detectives statistically made it out more than any other talent. 

_ If they got rid of them entirely, I definitely won’t get picked for that, but like I said, I don’t care what they really assign me to...it isn’t like I’d know any better after the fact.  _

Kirigiri’s resolve to her own stone cold approach was what made her so effective at her work, in addition to her powers of observation. 

Saihara was an observant boy, too. He’d made it a point to always observe, to always think, always analyze...of course, he was only so intelligent, and he knew that.

He wanted to be a detective, to be a  _ SHSL Detective _ , but in reality there was a cap to that sort of skill. 

That was why reality wasn’t preferable.    
It wasn’t exciting.   
People could be talented, but they couldn’t be ultimates, and even if they could, they were still ordinary people. 

Their skills weren't pushed to the limit with the circumstances of life and death.   
With Team Danganronpa’s help, Saihara could be a character just like Kirigiri! 

Their technology was incredible, after all, possibly the best in the world. They could take anyone ordinary and boring and turn them into a colorful, cool, talented individual that had a shot at winning the most intense game ever! 

Saihara picked his phone back up to check the time and look at his lockscreen--a gif of a pixel Kirigiri smiling and throwing her arms up. 

It was almost midnight, and he had school tomorrow.

_ I’m too excited to sleep! I finally sent in my entry! ...Oh! I know!  _

Now that auditions were open, the online forums were full of hopeful applicants.

Other hardcore fans were the best company. 

Everyone would be talking about their videos, their pleas to be a part of the franchise they loved so much, and their hopes for selection.    
Saihara knew he didn’t stand out online anymore than he did in real life, none of them did, but when he spoke to the other candidates...he felt Hope.

And wasn’t that the gift Danganronpa had given him--had given society?

Danganronpa was Hope itself, and the contestants willing sacrifices to continue that hope.    
Now and then, resistance groups would emerge and try to insist that the killing game was wrong or that the process of picking up and modifying contestants was unethical. 

But no one was truly forced to play this game. Team Danganronpa had never once broken the law.   
People who hated Danganronpa just didn’t get it. Didn’t get  _ him _ .    
He wanted to be a part of the gift that kept on giving; of course, Saihara’s intentions weren’t so pure.

He didn’t care so much about Hope or Despair. 

He intended to win, but even if he didn’t, his life wouldn’t be snuffed out in a meaningless way. 

And if the staff would listen to his execution ideas, he would go down in Danganronpa history.

\- - - - - - - - -

Two weeks passed by, and then a month, and Saihara was sure that he hadn’t been chosen for the next season of Danganronpa. 

By now, The Chosen for season 52 would have already been picked up.

Well, that was alright, too. He’d been well aware of the slim odds. 

As he sat on the train on his way home from school, Saihara checked into the live feed of Danganronpa 51.

His favorite this season, SHSL Forensic Analyst, had already gotten her head cracked open and her brains spilled, and so he wasn’t terribly invested in anyone else at this point.

He was more or less just waiting to see who would win. 

That was the only thing anyone could really do when their favorite character died. 

His bag setting by his feet, he pulled his cap down so that nothing else would distract him from looking down at his screen and slipped an earbud in. 

On the Danganronpa website, one could access cameras focused on a singular character or location. 

There were dozens and dozens of live feeds to tune into from day to day. 

At any moment, one could see what their favorite character was doing in their room. Sometimes, a fan might even watch them sleep and go to sleep “with” them. 

But Saihara himself hadn’t liked anyone that much in a long time. 

Viewers were free to watch the game from practically any angle, and no one person could watch the entire game all the time, so communing with other viewers was a necessary team effort. 

Currently, he watched two of the survivors speaking to each other about the deaths of their friends from earlier.

The SHSL Doll Collector was actually crying, her little hands covering her eyes as her shoulders shook in grief. The SHSL Bicyclist rubbed her back, tried to provide some consoling words about how they were so close to beating Monokuma and getting out of there. 

Saihara didn’t care much for either of them. 

He was never much for small characters obviously meant to be adorable, and if he was being truthful with himself, he’d expected the Doll Collector to be one of the first victims. 

_ I hope she doesn’t make it to the end...it’s like someone small has to make it out all the time. Of everyone, she’s probably my least favorite. _

He exited out of that feed and decided to check on the SHSL Samurai instead. 

If he had to pick a second favorite, it would be him. 

Samurai was meditating in his room. How like him. 

The players this season were convinced that they were in an underground bunker, and that should they escape to the outside world, they’d be chased by mutated monsters in a nuclear wasteland. 

Only six survivors remained. 

_ So one more death… _

Saihara wondered which of the them were the secret Danganronpa staff member who got to choose the setup this time. He could figure it out at least half of the time, which only reinforced his already existing detective skills.

The secret staff was never revealed until after the game, ended, anyway, when they’d give their final thoughts and review 

Before Saihara could dwell on it, the train was slowing down, and the PA announced his stop. 

He put his phone up, gathered his bag, and started on his usual route home. 

\- - - - - - - - -

That night, Saihara received a private message from one of his online friends.

He’d just heated up a bowl of instant noodles and was settling down in his room, laptop connected to his TV, to see what the characters in Danganronpa were doing now. 

_ Huh? A photo…today? _

His friend had linked him to a series of three photographs showing a girl being abducted by Team Danganronpa and shoved into their recognizable limo. 

She’d tried to run, and had gotten a few meters on the men sent to retrieve her, but she was no match for them. Team Danganronpa sent their strongest out to catch the candidates. 

He took a bite of his noodles and clicked the corresponding video. 

The girl was struggling against the two brute men who were each holding her arm; she’d dropped her bag and was trying to kick at them, but was only flailing like a fish.  

“Let me go! Stop!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, panicked eyes glancing directly into the camera for only a second as she looked to each spectator in desperation. “Help me! Please! Someone!” 

She grabbed at the edges off the door and tried move her body as far away from the threshold as possible, tears streaming down her face. 

It was almost animalistic, how she was clawing at their faces between trying to force her body out of their grip. 

“I changed my mind!” She screamed. “I changed my mind! Stop! Stop! Let me--” 

One of the men grabbed her by the neck and shoved her into the car completely. The other slammed the door and that was that.

The entire video lasted less than twenty seconds. 

Saihara answered his friend back with an amused smile.

_ Yeah, that was a little intense. Some of them always change their mind, though, don’t they? Not that unusual. I’m jealous, though. She’s that ungrateful she got picked?  _

He went back to eating and just as he did, a familiar tune played through his speakers. 

“A body has been discovered!”

Saihara immediately turned up the television and a few seconds later, the main feed displayed an image of the newest victim.

Saihara sighed in relief. 

It was just the SHSL Doll Collector, her body splayed out on the gym floor with a noose around her neck and a head injury so abrasive that it’d burst her left eye and left an indention in her skull. 

There were also some lacerations across her arms and torso, tearing into her uniform. 

His phone vibrated again, probably to ask if he’d just seen the announcement. 

Saihara opened the message.

_ They get on my nerves, the people that always change their mind last minute and those are the types that never win the game anyway. They just don’t have it in ‘em, you know? If I got picked, I’d be so happy. I wouldn’t run away. Did you see the new body discovered, btw? Just aired it. _

He sat back, opened a can of soda, and took a drink before replying.

_ Yeah, I saw it. And I know, right? I’d be so stoked. _


End file.
